dbcve.org
AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2023-20795

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-08-07
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
In ril, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with System execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Patch ID: ALPS07864900; Issue ID: ALPS07864900.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

In the Android Radio Interface Layer (RIL), a missing bounds check allows an out-of-bounds write vulnerability. An attacker with System execution privileges can exploit this to escalate privileges locally, without any user interaction.

MitigationApply vendor patch ALPS07864900 to implement proper bounds checking in the RIL component to prevent the out-of-bounds write.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
AndroidOperating system
Affected:= 12.0= 13.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Android version
    Go to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via adb shell
    Affected if Version is 12.0 or 13.0 exactly (not patched with vendor updates)
  2. Verify RIL component is present
    Check for the presence of libril.so or rild daemon: run 'ls -la /system/lib64/libril.so' or 'ps -A | grep rild' via adb shell
    Affected if RIL component exists and is actively running (vulnerability is in the RIL module)
  3. Check for vendor patch ALPS07864900
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' or check vendor-specific patch level via 'getprop' to see if ALPS07864900 is included
    Affected if Patch level does not include ALPS07864900 (or equivalent bounds-checking fix)
  4. Confirm System execution context is possible
    Verify if the device allows apps or processes with System-level privileges to run: check installed apps with 'dumpsys package' for apps holding SYSTEM_UID or android.permission.SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW, or check for root/system shell access via 'id' command
    Affected if An attacker can obtain System execution privileges on the device

User is affected if running Android 12.0 or 13.0 AND the vendor patch ALPS07864900 has not been applied to fix the bounds check in the RIL component, allowing an attacker with System privileges to escalate to higher privileges.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor patch ALPS07864900 to implement proper bounds checking in the RIL component to prevent the out-of-bounds write.

Recommended fix High confidence

Android 13 with latest security patch level (recommended to check for Android 14 availability from OEM)

  1. Check the device's current Android security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level
  2. Verify the installed security patch includes ALPS07864900 (the MediaTek patch for this vulnerability)
  3. If the patch is not installed, check for system updates in Settings > System > Software Update
  4. Apply any available Android security updates that include the fix for CVE-2023-20795
  5. If no update is available from your device OEM, contact the device manufacturer or switch to a device that provides timely security updates
  6. For enterprise environments, ensure mobile device management (MDM) policies enforce regular security updates
Caveat Major Android version upgrades may cause application compatibility issues; test in staging environment before production deployment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing10.0 h
  • Review / QA5.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,740
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-20795 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data